iPad Pro - A Competitor to Surface?

The rumors of a larger, more professional iPad have been around for a while now, but Apple squashed them all with the announcement of the iPad Pro. The new iPad Pro features a 12.9-inch display with a resolution of 2732x2048, giving us a pixel density of 264PPI.

With all of those pixels, it makes perfect sense for Apple to finally step into the world of proper multitasking with the iPad Pro, which is now capable of doing so under the guidance of iOS 9. The width of the new iPad Pro is the same height as the iPad Air 2, which according to Apple's Phil Spencer, allows you to "do things that a smartphone doesn't do because it doesn't have to sit in your pocket".

The new iPad Pro features something quite special, where "for the first time in an Apple display, it has a variable refresh rate". This technology isn't new, as it's something Apple uses in its Retina 5K display on the latest iMac. The variable refresh rate will slow the display down when it doesn't need to refresh as high, such as when you're reading email or surfing the web, which will increase battery life.

Inside of the new iPad Pro, is the new A9X processor which has the same "desktop-class" performance that the A9 processor inside of the new iPhones. The A9X processor is around 1.8x faster than the previous A8X chip inside of the current iPad. Graphics wise, we're looking at a 100% jump on the previous iPad.

Apple says that the new iPad Pro will last for around 10 hours on battery, even with the ability to stream three 4K videos simultaneously. Inside of the new 12.9-inch iPad Pro is a four-speaker audio system, with iOS 9 balancing the audio depending on how the user is holding it.

Finally, the iPad Pro is 6.9mm thin and weighs 1.57 pounds - so even with the larger 12.9-inch screen, Apple has kept the iPad Pro thin and light.

Hey Surface, Yeah You - Apple is Coming After You

When Microsoft unveiled the original Surface a few years ago, it didn't have the same traction as Apple had with its iPad. But over time, Microsoft has really seen the Surface grow into a formidable device, especially as it features a full desktop OS.

The new iPad Pro now includes something Apple calls a Smart Keyboard, which is "unlike any keyboard you've ever used before", because Apple has probably never used a Surface, obviously. The new iPad Pro has three new magnetic circles along the side of it, which acts as a new Smart Connector to attach the keyboard to the tablet, just like how the Surface keyboard attaches.

Another area that Microsoft has killed it with Surface is with the stylus, and while the late Steve Jobs said that Apple would never make a stylus - welcome to the Apple Pencil.

Apple Pencil

The new Apple Pencil that is made to work with the new 12.9-inch iPad Pro, where it increases the amount of scanning on the surface of the iPad Pro display in order to improve latency. Apple says that there's very little latency with Pencil, with the iPad Pro sensing when the Apple Pencil touches the screen as the A9X-powered slate's subsystem scans its signal at an astounding 240 times per second. This is twice the data points that it normally collects from your finger.

The sensor inside of the Apple Pencil will detect just how hard you are pressing down the Pencil onto the iPad Pro, so if you want to draw a very thin line you'd press down softly, or for a thicker line, you would press down harder.

There are two tilt sensors built into Apple Pencil, both of which can calculate the exact orientation and angle of your hand. So, when you're writing or drawing with Apple Pencil on your iPad Pro, each of the sensors are being detected by the Multi-Touch display to give you the most precise Pencil to iPad Pro responsiveness possible.

Apple's new Pencil can last for 12 hours, and is powered by the impressive Lightning connector which is in the end of the device under a lid. Better yet, just 15 seconds of charging results in 30 minutes of use, which is a huge deal. If you were down on Pencil battery, charging it for 60 seconds will provide another 2 hours or so of use. Another solid idea is that you can plug the Pencil into the iPad Pro to charge it.

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